Radio New Zealand International – Starting Some Antenna Testing – Oh Boy!

Just a quick one here folks / antenna A is the DXE-RF-PRO-1B from DX Engineering – good stuff! / antenna B – A Random Wire / And antenna C is the Scanking HF Discone 0.05 To 2000 MHz Antenna from Nevada Radio (UK)

The antennas vary widely in cost and mounting practices – and there are performance differences – this post is simply to show a quick look at all three – performance wise with the same signal / same radio / same time – a snapshot so to speak.

The difficult part about testing different antennas is having to disconnect and connect coax over and over to change antennas – SDRUNO makes it as simple as the click of the mouse.

Three antennas and the capability to compare them side by side through the software switching in SDRUNO – Having Fun NOW!

These are all at 7.425mhz – 1015 UCT ( 5:15 am CDST / 02AUG25 ) in Sioux Falls SD

The loop – @25.4 SNR ( oriented map east to west )

The random wire – @23.1SNR ( oriented app. 100 degrees to 280 degrees axis )

And the discone – @25.9SNR – ( it’s omnidirectional )

The interesting difference is the noise floor – at this moment – with these conditions – at this frequency – variables really make this stuff fun – LOL! – the comparison testing is going to be a hoot! The obvious out of the box winner – “Bang For the Buck” – is the random wire. A simple 10 meters of wire strung out to the shed – done as right as it could be . . .

I have read several reviews on the discone -some folks knocking it for being somewhat deaf on HF ( 500khz to 30mhz ) – however I’m finding it performs in a decent fashion for me – remember variables – location ( in your yard/garden as well as geographic location – where in the world YOU are ) / mounting height / frequency / conditions and so on – and on – and on . . .

I will do three quick posts detailing each antenna and how they are installed and then try to do a few more comparisons showing the differences between them.

Bruce – What is this SNR thing you speak of? – Simply put Signal to Noise Ratio is the percentage of signal strength over the noise floor – noise floor is the background noise at any given frequency and consists of a combination of two things – natural noise and man made noise – and yes there are acronyms for both.

If you are interested in taking a trip down that particular rabbit hole <<Click Here>> and take a trip through Q Codes compliments of WIKI. and if you do go down the rabbit hole – say Howdy to Alice for me – And you can CLICK HERE to watch the whole movie . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

More Radio Stuff & Friday Music on Tuesday??

So once again – if something can be screwed up – it will be . . .

Busy times, so I scheduled several posting to drop – don’t know for sure how I screwed up – but I managed to do it – OOPS . . .

Now onto some radio stuff . . .

The loop antenna and the wire antenna both perform beyond my expectations – but – They are both all done doing what they do when you get above 30mhz – so I picked this up from Nevada Radio . . .

I had to pay about 50 bucks for shipping – worth every penny – ordered zero dark thirty on a Monday morning – it was sitting on my porch Thursday afternoon ( not Tuesday afternoon – LOL! ) Incredible service from Nevada Radio!

One of the negatives mentioned in reviews – the radials come loose after time – most radio geeks are not mechanics per se – people say use lock nuts and or thread lock – how about tighten the damn things down!

The only fidgety part is getting the first “down” radial started – the threads are very well done – you have to have just the right angle – don’t cross thread as that would not end well – unlike a lot of the others Scanking uses solid radials – not foam filled hollow tubes held in with set screws – this is a precision built antenna – good stuff!

Ready to go outside and get install-ated – YAY!

Really straight forward – flat board to clamp to – a little concrete pad for the weight to settle on – pretty much done!

I just thought I got some strange looks from folks with just the loop! – LOL!

A couple of pieces of chain link fence top rail – about 4 hours of labor total – ran a #6 ground from the top of the mast to the ground rod – no real provision to ground the “negative” side of the antenna – bundled the coax with the rest and into the entry box – in-line coaxial lightning Arrester/Supressor and into the radio room . . .

Add any more antennas gonna have to put another entry box up – <VBFG> – LOL!

And it works!

And a quick video of Foss field ATC – prior to adding this antenna the only way to hear it – and poorly I might add – was outside with a portable . . .

I get like 6 or 7 NOAA weather broadcast stations – from Huron SD to halfway across Minnesota – my available listening time slots and weather satellite pass times have not overlapped as yet – so I don’t know about that yet . . .

500khz to 30mhz? A lot of the comments about it states that the discone is a little deaf in that frequency range – for the most part I’m finding it performs right in line with the wire antenna – of course neither performs quite as good as the loop with the LNA . . .

One advantage the discone has is vertical receive orientation on lower frequencies – the white fiberglass part sticking out the top – signal strength may be a little less – but the noise floor is reduced significantly – you end up with a better signal to noise ratio (SNR) overall – which is a good thing.

Remember folks – everything you are doing with all this radio “stuff” is a compromise – either physical space limitations – money limitations – or both. Without those limits? Things “can” get a little out of hand – here is one of the best examples of no concerns over money/space conundrum I know of <<Click Here>> – glorious isn’t it? And <<Click Here>> to get an idea of the scale of the discone at the Titan 2 site . . .

The tiny white dot is a balloon at about 65 thousand feet seen through the discone early one morning . . .

So we’re heading straight into the bottom line of this post – two things for you . . .

#1 – The Scanking discone 500khz to 2000mhz is overall a good to very good antenna – very well made – not a lot of space needed to put it up – a lot of folks just don’t have a “spot” to put up a random wire antenna and they sure don’t want to spend the money for a loop– easy to assemble – once you get the first downward radial in place just match the angle on the others – if you want the lower frequency coverage – down to 500khz – like I wanted – it’s a really good choice . . .

#2 – I still don’t understand all I don’t know about WordPress – LMAO!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Friday Music ( sorta ) – Christmas in July

Depending on your BSA council – Christmas in July was celebrated either the 1st or 2nd week after the week of the 4th. It was a fun week for all – decorating campsites – of course that was a contest – “Santa” showing up in shorts and a t-shirt at the Friday night campfire – real and gag gifts – “Good Times” were had by all!

Is Christmas in July even a thing anymore or is it now politically incorrect?

Here’s Gene Autry – a “Silver Screen” cowboy for you – and if you haven’t seen this movie – what rock have you been living under?

So . . . is THIS politically correct – or politically incorrect?

And here’s Doris Day – Walking in women’s underwear ( we hope! ) – LOL!

And it’s really hard to find a cover of this that was not a success by whomsoever . . .

And of course – the author himself – The Velvet Fog – Mel Torme . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Posting “Stuff” . . .

A lot of you folks just check in every once in a while – and that’s cool. Some of you are impatient to say the least – more T&A pics – more memes – more political memes – Well you get what you get when you get it – and if I haven’t offended YOU yet – never fear – I will more than likely get to YOU at some point. I was getting some SDR stuff together for a post and that really went in the ditch – HARD into the ditch. Had a thunderstorm move through about 5am last Saturday morning – at about 6 or so one big – close – ka-boom of a strike – the Rocket Fish surge suppressor from Best Buy did its job for the TV stuff – we were watching it and it didn’t even blink. The radio(s) setup? It was all powered down – however – both window boxes and the RSPdx-R2 and the Airspy HF+ Discovery – POOF – gone – most interesting neither raspberry pi or the sdr dongles on them were bothered at all . . .

Both replacement SDR’s and the replacement window boxes are on the way and a Rocket Fish suppressor has been put in place in the radio room. Live and learn . . .

One of the techs with Ham Radio Outlet said – Well just open it up – if you see something burnt you may be able to repair it . . .

That’s a AAA battery sitting there to give you an idea – I’m still chuckling . . .

Week 3 underway on the Jalapenos and tomatoes and I’m already getting texts about salsa – LOL!

Curtis came up with an un-chomped chew stick – no idea where he had it stashed – He chomped on it for awhile then left it -Oliver got it and teased him unmercifully with it – Oliver could not care less about any given “toy” unless his brother wants it – then it’s game on – LMAO!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

PS – Wow – talk about service and fast shipping – I was just going to publish this when UPS showed up – I ordered this Monday morning – them guys at HRO are good!